Broomfield News

Heart of Broomfield Heart and Soul Award: Cindy Lamontagne serving up burritos with side of wisdom

For the past 12 years, Cindy Lamontagne has served her burritos with a side of community counseling.

Though Lamontagne is best known as owner of Burritos To Go, which she runs with her family, she has made a big mark on the community as someone who acts as a counselor, “second mom” and sympathetic ear.

Lamontagne is the winner of this year's Heart of Broomfield Heart and Soul award.

Lamontagne is a community leader in an unconventional place: Burritos to Go, a tiny burrito eatery near Broomfield High School. It's a place where Lamontagne lends a friendly ear to her customers who struggle with family, money, school or personal problems.

It's a special place for the regular teen customers from nearby Broomfield High, said Ginger Ramsey, the school's principal.

Anyone who walks into Burritos To Go during lunch hour will likely see a big group of teens joking around while digging into their favorite burritos.

Though the eatery itself is small, students crowd into the burrito shop to catch up with Cindy and tell their stories.

Students “learned quickly that that they had a safe place to go, knew there was a person who cared about them and had a person who listened to their challenges and successes,” Ramsey said in a letter nominating Lamontagne for the award.

“Cindy's ability to listen to high school students, give sage advice (that we as parents could not) and be a positive role model for students has enhanced the lives of many of our Broomfield students,” Ramsey added.

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Lamontagne also has a heart for supporting community fundraisers, Wendy Fiedler, a former Heart of Broomfield award winner, stated in a nomination letter.

Lamontagne supports fundraisers by promoting the event or providing food, putting up posters for community events or sometimes placing donation boxes on Burritos To Go's counter, so customers can drop in a few dollars for benefit races or other efforts, Fiedler said.

“Cindy gives so much back to Broomfield in tangible and intangible ways,” BHS parent Susanne Eck said in a nomination letter.

Lamontagne's sense of community also extends to the personal care she takes with the customers who walk through her door, Eck said.

“Cindy greets everyone with a warm smile and remembers not only the names of her regular patrons, but their customized order. She takes the time to find out how your day is going and to lend an ear if you are having a bad day,” she stated.

Customers who come in contact with Lamontagne get “a dose of her sunshine” every time they meet, Eck said.

In January, it was Lamontagne's turn to get a dose of her supporters' sunshine. She was in the hospital for several months, because of health problems, such as liver and kidney illness. She also suffered stroke-like symptoms that left her disoriented and tired. She lost so much weight she thinned down to just 80 pounds.

Community members organized several fundraisers to help Lamontagne's family pay for medical expenses.

Mark Lamontagne, Cindy's husband, said the community showed its unwavering support by hosting several fundraisers. For example, about 600 people showed up for a spaghetti dinner fundraiser hosted by the Broomfield High football team in March.

Lamontagne said she was flattered to be named a Heart of Broomfield winner, but is happier to create connections with the friends, neighbors and customers in her community.

“Over the past few years I have gotten to know so many of you, your personal lives, your feelings, your thoughts, your troubles, your kids, your good times and bad times. I had no idea the sheer number of people that I had touched ... I was just being me,” she wrote in an email.

On her first day back to work in February, she said she has experienced plenty of good luck despite her health.

During a February interview, she said she wants to stay behind the counter at Burritos to Go in order to feed her community and provide that friendly ear for teenagers.

“We've got to take care of each other. If I'm not here to listen, they'll go tell someone else,'” she said.

HEART AND SOUL WINNER: Cindy Lamontagne is thewinner of the 2103 Heart of Broomfield Heart and Soul Award. (Jeremy Papasso)

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